​10 ways to turbocharge your company in 2024

With 2023 behind you, it’s time to review the past year and set new goals for a successful – and happy – new year. Follow our 10 steps to set your organisation up for the year ahead.

4 mins read
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about 1 year ago

Whether your business is new or established, it is crucial to assess the performance of the previous year. Additionally, it is important to establish goals for the upcoming year.

A thorough checklist can act as a guide to steer through the thrilling challenges and prospects that a new beginning presents.

By formulating an annual strategy, you can ensure that your enterprise is ready for success and sustainability. A good plan helps your business be more efficient, adapt to market conditions, overcome challenges, and seize opportunities.

Preparing for the upcoming year creates a sense of responsibility and dedication in your team. This happens as you collaborate towards a common goal and vision. It helps you track your plan's progress, evaluate performance, make smarter decisions, and find areas to improve.

It also cultivates excitement among your team about the future and the project you're building together.

Use the checklist below to assess your current situation and ensure the forthcoming year is successful:

Reflect on the previous year

Before projecting into the New Year, it's crucial to thoroughly review your performance over the past 12 months.

This involves examining sales and revenue data, scrutinizing customer feedback, and evaluating any other significant metrics.

Review your objectives from the beginning of the year, and determine which tactics were effective and which ones were not. This evaluation is essential for learning and assists you in making knowledgeable choices in the future.

Define precise objectives

It is important to set clear goals for the next year. You can use SMART objectives, which means specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. For example, instead of saying "boost sales," you can set a goal to increase sales by 10% in the first quarter. Using these objectives will help guide your company's actions and decisions, leading to better outcomes.

Setting clear goals for the next year is crucial. You can use SMART objectives, which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely.

For instance, instead of stating "boost sales," you can set a goal to increase sales by 10% in the first quarter. These objectives will provide guidance for your company's actions and decisions, resulting in improved outcomes. Additionally, they will aid in resource management and decision-making regarding time, money, and resources for optimal results.

Formulate a plan

Once you clearly establish your objectives, you can start to delineate the actions required to accomplish them. This might entail introducing new goods or services, penetrating new markets, or enhancing your customer support. Your plan should serve as a guide to realizing your objectives.

Organize your finances

Managing money is important for businesses. Look at last year's income and spending, and make a budget for the next year. This is an important task for the new year.

It's crucial to consider all possible expenses, including wages, promotional costs, and operational expenses.

Perform market research

Understanding your potential customers and competitors is crucial for developing your company's marketing and sales strategy.

Analyzing the market helps you make smart decisions, setting your business up for success in the future.

Evaluating Risks

Every enterprise encounters risks, be it financial, operational, or market-related. By pinpointing these, your firm can devise strategies to lessen their impact.

By taking a proactive approach, you can tackle obstacles and maintain business operations.

Invest in Team Development

Investing in training and development for your workforce improves skills, morale, and productivity.

This is crucial in 2024 as many companies are grappling with a lack of skills. Improve your team's skills to fill gaps and help your staff learn new skills for career advancement.

Enhancing Customer Interaction

Looking forward, it's crucial to implement strategies that not only engage your customers but also enhance their experience.

This could involve refining your customer service, initiating loyalty schemes, or boosting your digital visibility. Starting a dialogue with customers and soliciting their input on what they'd like to see is an excellent first step.

Evaluate and Revise Business Operations

Effective business operations can boost efficiency and cut expenses. The onset of a new year is an ideal opportunity to reassess current operations and identify potential enhancements.

By embracing new technologies or simplifying workflows, you could revolutionize how your business functions. Check out the resources and templates section on our website for useful advice, tools, and guidance that could assist with this.

Have a contingency plan

Unexpected events can disrupt your business. Therefore, it is important to have a plan in place. This will help you navigate these challenges and keep your operations running smoothly.

This might include establishing an emergency fund or formulating a crisis management strategy.

Keep in mind, an effective plan is versatile and adjustable. Regularly assess and adjust your plan to ensure your business stays on track for success in the coming year.

If you need a skilled professional for your team or want a new career, contact our expert consultants now.

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Coaching for intersectional inclusion
9 mins read

Coaching for intersectional inclusion

​Everyone has multiple layers to their identity, and no one is one label. There are other aspects of their identities to consider, and no one should be put in a box. Many businesses, which celebrate Pride Month, for example, are perceived as not doing enough for people who are underrepresented in more than one way.

Recent research by Culture Amp in ‘The Workplace Diversity and Inclusion Report 2024’ found disabled women and black women are more doubtful of their employers’ equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging (EDI&B) efforts than any other group.

This is likely because women might feel their entire identity and additional barriers aren’t being considered, if they are part of more than one underrepresented group. Some employers’ initiatives provide a base-level overview of inclusion for women, but they might only explore the perspectives of white women, for example, or women in general, with no specific solutions explored for LGBTQ+, disabled or black women, for instance. Each may have very different experiences of what it means to be a woman.

Coaching people within your organisation can help leaders and employees gain a deeper understanding of intersectionality and why it’s important. We interviewed Mary-Clare Race, CEO of Talking Talent, for her insight and best-practice tips on all things coaching and inclusion.

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Q: What's the difference between coaching, mentoring, and other types of training, especially when it comes to equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging?

A: These terms are often used interchangeably in the world of talent development, but we see a clear distinction between them that is especially important when it comes to EDI&B.

In a training situation, the primary goal is typically to transfer knowledge from the facilitator to the participant, to raise their awareness and understanding of a particular topic or skill and provide them with practical tips on how to put that skill into action for themselves.

In a mentoring situation, there is also an element of knowledge transfer, but in a more personalised, relationship based, one-to-one situation where the mentee is paired up with a more experienced mentor who is there to provide them with support, advice and guidance.

Coaching takes the relationship-based approach one step further and focuses on supporting and facilitating the coachee to actively step in and facilitate their own outcomes. It is not about giving them the answer but rather supporting them to find their own answer, their own way forward.

At Talking Talent, we favour a coaching-led approach because it enables a deeper level of behavioural change. The coachee must be actively engaged and motivated to do the inner work on themselves and the coach is there to hold them to account. However, there is a role for all three approaches when it comes to solving EDI&B challenges and real power in combining all three.

Q: How can coaching help businesses become more inclusive and diverse?

A: If you look at what it takes to really move an organisation forward with their EDI&B strategy, we believe you've got to take a systemic approach and build inclusion into your culture and in how people behave every day.

There are several ways coaching can help with this:

Leadership behaviours: by working with a coach, leaders become more aware of their own biases, preferences and how their own identity shapes how they show up as a leader. The coach can help them develop the skills needed to foster a culture of inclusion and hold themselves and others accountable.

Developing talent: in many organisations there are pockets of talent who have been overlooked because of some aspect of their identity. Coaching-led programmes can support under-represented talent to thrive and overcome what may be holding them back so they can fulfil their true potential. And by offering coaching-led programmes that address the unique needs of underrepresented individuals, organisations demonstrate their commitment to supporting the needs of all their employees - thus driving retention and engagement levels up.

Improving culture: at the heart of culture change is the need to move behaviours forward at an organisational level. We believe coaching is the most powerful way to do this for an organisation - by helping individuals and groups develop the self-awareness, emotional intelligence and relational competency to work effectively in diverse teams and build inclusion into the culture.

Q: In your experience, why are diversity and inclusion initiatives so important to organisations and their talent attraction and retention?

A: In our industry, there's been significant backlash against EDI&B efforts, particularly in North America, and this sentiment seems to be growing globally. The issue often lies in viewing EDI&B initiatives as separate from core organisational culture. For me, EDI&B is about creating an environment where every individual, regardless of identity, can thrive and contribute fully. This isn't just about ticking boxes – it's critical for attracting and retaining talent, and crucial for overall business performance.

Ultimately, EDI&B isn't merely an add-on; it's integral to effective leadership and to building success at all levels of your organisation. It's about fostering authenticity, encouraging diverse perspectives, and empowering individuals to contribute their best work. These principles are essential for any business striving to maximise performance and leverage a diverse talent pool, regardless of their specific commitments or strategies. It's about creating a workplace culture where everyone can succeed and where the organisation benefits from the full potential of its people.

Q: Who should be coached in inclusion and diversity within an organisation? And why?

A: When considering who should be coached in inclusion and diversity within an organisation, it's crucial to view these efforts as integral to successful business practice. While not everyone needs individual coaching, it's essential to ensure all members of the organisation are engaged in the journey towards inclusivity.

For leadership teams, coaching can be particularly impactful in fostering a culture where inclusion is actively cultivated and practiced. Leaders can learn to demonstrate inclusive behaviours and set the tone for the entire organisation.

Additionally, focusing coaching efforts on groups that have historically faced barriers – such as women, marginalised ethnicities, or neurodivergent individuals – can be highly beneficial. By addressing systemic challenges these groups face, organisations can promote fairness and unlock their full potential.

Ultimately, the decision on who to coach should be informed by the organisation's current state and readiness for change. A tailored approach ensures that coaching initiatives align with strategic goals and create meaningful impact across the entire workforc